Page 37 of Queen’s Gambit

He got in my face, our noses touching as we squared off. I could hear the ref blowing his whistle but didn’t care. This needed to be settled.

“Why the fuck did you push me?”

The ref blew the whistle again and pointed at me as he held up a yellow card. Our team ran over, ready to separate us.

“You know why. Your selfish ball-hogging is costing us this game.” I pointed to where I’d been when I wanted him to pass. “I was wide open, and you didn’t pass. You’ve been doing it the whole time.”

“I didn’t see you. And if it wasn’t for me, we wouldn’t have the one goal. You’re too busy staring at your girlfriend to score,” he growled and pushed me.

There it was, the root of the issue. I should’ve known. He was fucking jealous of Ana. He either wanted her or didn’t want to see me happy. Either way, he wasn’t a friend if that was the case.

“Fuck you, Collier. You looked right at me and then tried to make a shot when you were nowhere near the goal,” I said, ignoring the part about my girlfriend. I wasn’t going to let him turn this into a personal issue.

“Both of you knock it off,” Marcus said, grabbing our shoulders. “Edmundo is right. This isn’t a solo sport, Lawrence.”

“Lawrence, get over here now. I’m subbing you out,” Coach shouted from the sidelines.

Fury burned in Lawrence’s eyes as he turned on Coach.

“What? Why me? I’m the only one who scored a goal,” he complained.

“Because of your attitude. It’s not Lawrence’s Wayward Trojans. It’s just the Wayward Trojans. Now get off the pitch before you get red-carded and screw over your whole team.”

“This blows,” Lawrence yelled.

“On second thought, go straight to Dean Martin’s office.”

Coach pointed, and I could hear Lawrence swear under his breath.

“Don’t worry. I quit.”

He pulled off his jersey and threw it on the ground.

The ref blew the whistle again and gave Lawrence a yellow card.

Marcus and I shared a look and shook our heads. I’d genuinely thought that Lawrence could be redeemed, but every time I turned around, he did something to break my trust or prove that he was still the selfish SOB he was when we met.

Coach must have had Emmett on the sidelines ready to sub in. As soon as Lawrence stepped off the pitch, he ran over to us. Emmett was a year younger. I didn’t know him very well, but he seemed keen, and I was happy to give him a shot.

Coach pointed to me. “We’ll talk after the game.”

I nodded.

“Now, can we get back to playing soccer and win this game?”

I so badly wanted to say football.

Emmett took Lawrence’s position and the ref dropped the ball in front of the Hawking Shores player. This jealousy bullshit with Lawrence had to stop. It was getting out of control.

Yulianna

“Oh my god.”

Eddie ran up to Lawrence and pushed him so hard that he almost fell on the ground.

“I don’t understand. Why are they fighting,” I asked Paul.

All the players, including the other team, had stopped to watch the drama unfold. Even the bleachers had turned deathly quiet as everyone tried to hear what was being said.